"This month, we were blessed by a couple of volunteers from the States to conduct emergency medical training for missionaries and local authorities." . . . "I have long desired our missionaries to all have some basic level of training for medical emergencies because it is only inevitable before we are called upon to exercise aid whether we are in that primary role or not." . . .

"God is putting a desire in the hearts of these uneducated and primitive people to learn how to live a better life. We praise God for the helicopter that helps speed this work to remote areas, but more missionaries on the ground are needed."

So great to hear Honey and Helen's stories of how their families' lives have changed since PAMAS missionaries stepped into their mountain village 3 years ago and introduced them to Jesus! (Just last year a missionary family was finally able to stay full time in their village of Karusuan (thanks to the helicopter which helps with logistics) and hold more consistent Bible studies and literacy school. Amazing what a few short months can do for a village when God takes over!

This is a special letter to say thank you so much for your gifts to this ministry! Since we started fasting and praying with our teams three days each month (for the past few months), we’ve seen a notable change! It seems our teams are growing spiritually and becoming more united, which helps us to serve better. Let me tell you a story of how God worked through you with your prayers and support to answer some specific requests in a recent time of united prayer.

Recently we were getting lower on funds for several months and yet the needs were continually growing bigger. We had upcoming insurance bills due for the aircraft, another shipment of fuel was needed, and a large bill to pay on aircraft parts. All of this was on top of the regular monthly needs and several church building projects. We were confident that God wanted to provide for His work, but maybe something was holding Him back. We decided to pray more specifically and more unitedly as a team during our next session of prayer and fasting. We felt more united than ever as we met together and prayed three times each day. We prayed specifically for an amount of donations to come in the next month which would take care of all the needs. The Holy Spirit also inspired us to pray more specifically for the revival of many neighbors and backslidden church members from our nearby church.

We anxiously awaited the next donation report with confidence and excitement in continuing God’s work with the funds He would provide. We were amazed, and yet not surprised when God answered above and beyond our expectations! First of all, the next donation report showed three times the average amount of donations that had been coming in! This took care of all the extra needs for the month (aircraft insurance, fuel etc) as well as the ongoing monthly needs and projects! On top of that, God provided a large donation that took care of the whole debt on the parts as well as some needed equipment for the new Mindanao airbase project! The rest (and the bulk) of the large donation will go towards an exciting, and big need that you can read about below! And the icing on the cake was that the very next Sabbath the church was full of the specific people that we had prayed for that hadn’t been to church in months and years! This experience has reminded us that no matter what else we do, we must take time for earnest, united prayer with our teams! There is power in praying with others! Thank you for being a part of this miracle with your prayers and support!

We’re excited to share with you another answer to prayer, which is, that with the recent large donation we now have $100,000 towards a helicopter for our northern Luzon project! This is only a third or so of the estimated cost, but it’s a great start and we know that God will provide the rest, just like he's done over and over again! We are looking at helicopters that are already here in the Philippines, and praying that God will lead us to the right one. Northern Luzon has huge areas of unreached people groups, and the efforts being done to reach them are slow going. We are working together with Philippine Frontier Missions as well as local pastors and medical missionaries to help spread the good news to these remote areas, and the helicopter will greatly speed these efforts! We hope to have more news for you as soon as God directs us to just the right helicopter for this work. See below for how you can help!

With all the great things that God is doing lately, Satan is also working extra hard to counteract it! We really value and need your prayers! If you’re following any of our missionaries’ newsletters, you might have read some of the issues we’ve been having with our remote schools and projects. It seems new government regulations are making it harder for us to legally have “informal” schools in the mountains. Along with that is the challenge of some of the corrupt government leaders who are trying to get the missionaries out so they can take the native people’s land without interference. It’s already happening in other parts of the island. If you could visit one of these mission schools you would be convinced, as we are, that God would NOT have any of these schools to be closed, or any of these children to be left without the opportunity to learn of Him and a better way of life! So please remember these schools and the missionaries in your prayers.

We hope that this email will somehow help you realize how important and significant your part is in this ministry and how grateful we are for all that you do!

HOME!
After many months, the twin engine airplane is finally up and running again and we are back “home” again in north Luzon for a few short weeks! It’s really great to be home after 8 months! We really don’t mind traveling all the time and God has provided many “homes” for us, but it’s always nice to be alone in our home again once in awhile!

RAIN!
Much has happened since we last wrote a couple months ago. We thank you for the prayers for the rain! The drought is over and we are now in full blown rainy season! (however some pilots and workers are wondering if they would prefer to have the drought back!) The gardens are doing great and it’s so nice not to have to haul water anymore! We had to say a sad goodbye to our volunteer gardener, Violaine who returned to France recently, but we are so thankful for all her time and effort in helping us get these gardens off to a good start!

Violaine gardening with LIGHT students

MEDICAL MISSIONARY TRAINING!
Last we wrote we were in the middle of planning a one-month medical missionary LIGHT training specifically to help nurture the newly baptized youth of our area. There were several seemingly impossible challenges that we foresaw and we came very close to canceling it. But we all felt it surely had to be God’s will to have such a life-changing activity while the teachers were available, so we prayed for another 3 days. And through His guidance we decided to move forward in faith. And we are so glad we did! We had 6 dedicated, volunteer teachers and more than 25 students of all ages and backgrounds. One by one God took care of each challenge (students, finances, water, meeting place, approval from the Conference etc.)! He also worked in each student’s life, helping them to grow spiritually and to learn many practical skills, which made us feel that every risk and sacrifice was worth it all! Three of the students who were not already Adventists were even baptized by the end of the month! Thank you so much for your prayers and support that made this and other activities possible!

Students gave all the lectures at a Health Expo as part of their training

POWER OF PRAYER!
Our two mountain mission schools were facing some challenges with the local villagers these last couple months. But as the pressures were mounting on both missionary families in both schools about the same time, and they felt it might be best to just leave, we could only encourage them and pray for them, and for each situation that God would intervene. We praise God that through united prayer, amazing things have happened! One family had already packed their things and taken them to the lowlands and we wondered how we would ever find another more dedicated family to replace them, especially in time for the next school year to start, which was just weeks away. God worked on their hearts and as they went back to spend a few more weeks with the people, they were impressed to fast and pray about their decision. God used the local villagers to explain more to them the true feelings of their people and begged them to stay. We’re happy to say that the family has returned to stay for another school year with new strength and love for the people, and the school is back in session right on time with more students than ever!

BAPTISM!
The other family in the other school (in the newly opened village of Karusuan) decided to join the one-month LIGHT training at our base in the lowlands, since their lives were even being threatened in the mountains by one of the disgruntled villagers. During that time they were spiritually renewed and challenged to return and stay for another school year as well! Their adult students from the mountains continued to grow spiritually (one of them even attended the one-month training with them), and recently 6 of them were baptized! These are the first baptized members of the Karusuan mountain village! The new school year as already started with 30 plus children and many adults as well! What a testimony to what God can do when we unite with others and with Him in prayer! Please continue to pray for the missionaries in these remote areas and around the world that God would give them courage and strength to face the challenges and to continue pressing on to reach more souls for God’s Kingdom! Also pray for more brave souls to join the mission field!

FLIGHTS!
With 4 aircraft flying now, the work is growing! We’ve even started flying in a new area in the very southernmost island of Palawan-- the island of Mangsee that we wrote about in the last newsletter. We’ve made a couple medical evacuation flights for them so far. We continue to pray that we can be a blessing and a light to those people in spiritual darkness. We are taking the necessary precautions, but we do ask for your prayers for safety for our flights to these somewhat dangerous areas. We also ask for your prayers as our monthly expenses are increasing with the added aircraft and flights. Thank you so much for your support that keeps these important projects going!

This remote village has been re-opened to the work of missionaries, thanks to the helicopter